How a Golf Ball Is Made – Material, Manufacture and History

Do you know how golf balls were designed earlier? From the time they came into existence to now, they had a whole journey of different designs and materials. The online golf stores you see now are much different from the earlier ones.

Let’s peep into the history of golf balls, their material now and then and how were they manufactured.

History

From the 13th century to 17th century, box trees and hardwood beech were the first mediums for the production of golf balls. In the year 1618, “Featherie”, a golf ball was introduced. In its formation, the goose feathers were packed into a custom in a cow and hide sphere. This process was quite lengthy.

In 1848, Reverend Adam Paterson from St. Andrews in Scotland introduced another type of golf ball called “Gutta Percha” or “Guttie”. It had malleable sap, similar to rubber; it could be reshaped for better flight. It was considered that nicks and grooves are needed for better flight. And then, “brambles” which were like crude, reverse dimples were introduced.

After this, in 1898, accidentally the importance of rubber was felt and so in the 20th century, “wound” golf ball came into existence. Throughout the 20th century, there was continuous innovation on the dimple and design of the ball. And, now you can see the mix of plastic and rubber material balls in perfect dimple shape balls.

Raw Materials

A golf ball is made with a mix of plastic and rubber materials. Having a durable thermoplastic cover, a two-piece ball consists of a solid rubber core. The rubber works as a hard block, which is heated and pressed to build a sphere shape. In the three-piece golf ball, smaller rubber solid or liquid-filled center with rubber thread is surrounded around it under tension with a balata rubber. Now you can easily buy golf balls at online golf shops.

You will be surprised to know that two-piece balls require less a day to get prepared, around 40 manufacturing steps, and 15 inspections. On the other hand, three-piece golf balls are difficult to make and require almost double the manufacturing steps and inspections.

Creating the Center

The center of the ball is a molded core. It consists of several ingredients, which are chemically reactive rubber type compound. With the help of heat and pressure, the core of 1.5 inches is formed.

Creating the Dimples and the Cover

• 2-compression- molding is used to form the cover and dimples on a two-piece with the help of the two-piece mold. Heat and pressure change the cover material in order to let it flow to join with the center and form dimples.

• 3-compression molding, the cover is injected into two hollow hemispheres. Three-piece balls are molded by compression the hot plastic to cause breaks in the rubber threads.
Polishing, Coating, and Painting

At this stage, the unwanted rough spots and molded cover are removed. Usually, two coats are applied while the ball spins in order to put the coat evenly.

Nowadays, it is easy to buy golf products online as compared to early years. Golf balls are designed in such manner that they can provide the best quality the game. To check the quality of the ball, it has to comply with the standards of USGA.